South East

Introduction

The South East with an area of nearly 19,200 sq Km is the third largest of the English Regions, while its population at 8.2 million is the largest of any region.   Administratively it is made up of 7 Counties, containing 55 Districts and Boroughs, and a further 12 Unitary Authorities.  While there is no single dominant urban centre, the region is home to two cities with populations of around 250,000 (Brighton and Hove, and Medway) and five cities with populations in excess of 100,000.

The region has a highly productive economy with a residence based Gross Value Added (GVA) in 2005 of £166 billion (workplace based, £155 billlion), amounting to £20,700 per head, the second highest of the English regions and 15.3% of the total UK GVA.  Incomes in the region are strong, with average Gross Domestic Household Income at £118 billion in 2005, equivalent to £14,600 per head.  Again only London had higher figures of all the English regions.  The economic activity at 82% (Jan-Mar 2007) is the highest of any regions, (UK average 78.7%), as is the employment rate at 78.4% (UK 74.4%).  The economy provides around 4.4 million jobs, and as the difference between workforce and residence based GVA indicates the region also provides a substantial contribution to the labour force of neighbouring regions, especially London. 

The region has a strong infrastructure, including some 3.5 million dwellings, of which 75% are owner occupied.  Transport links include 22% of the English motorway network and 15% of the major roads.  The UK’s second busiest airport, Gatwick, is in the region, while the busiest, Heathrow is immediately adjacent to it.  In Southampton, Portsmouth, Dover, Sheerness, Ramsgate and Newhaven, the SE has some of the country’s major passenger and freight ports, while the Channel Tunnel provides direct access to continental Europe. 

However, there is considerable diversity within the region. Within the regional GVA figures, GVA per head varies from £10,200 in the Isle of Wight to £27,500 in Berkshire (2004).  This partially reflects into household income, with gross domestic household income per head varying between £11,100 in Southampton and £17,600 in Surrey (2004).   While some 270 of the region’s lower level Super Output Areas (LSOAs) fell within the worst 20% nationally on the Index of Multiple Deprivation 2004, around 2000 fell within the best 20% nationally. 

Recent Visits

Information not available

Demographics for the South East

Mid-2006 Population Estimates

Figures updated annually. Last update August 2007. Source: Office for National Statistics.

Regional Minister for the South East: Jonathan Shaw MP

Children and Learners

Health and Well Being

• The Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton, has received nearly £80,000 to modernise its A&E Department and it also houses a rapid access chest pain clinic.
• The London Road site of the Royal Berkshire Hospital, Reading, is being rebuilt as part of a redevelopment plan worth £104m under PFI. It has also seen a number of improvements including a rapid access chest pain clinic, cutting edge equipment to better diagnose and treat cancer, and a further CT scanner and Linear Accelerator are expected shortly.
• £220m is being spent under PFI to bring trauma and children's services onto the John Radcliffe and Churchill hospital sites, and to relocate the University of Oxford's Clinical School department onto one site, enhancing research, teaching and training opportunities.
• Queen Alexandra's Hospital, Portsmouth has a £1.3m newly modernised A&E department and is receiving £170m for acute redevelopment under PFI.

Crime

• Brighton, Hastings, Portsmouth and Southampton have been named as four of 40 priority Respect Action Areas in England, for being councils who have strong records in tackling anti-social behaviour.  The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) is also backing the scheme with £6m of funding in 2007/08 for parenting classes in the 40 areas.
• Since 2001 over £29m has been spent helping communities in the fight against drugs. A further allocation of nearly £10m went to the 67 Partnerships in the South East for 2005/06, the same allocation as the previous year.
• In 2003/04, £700,000 was allocated to the South East in the fight against Anti-Social Behaviour with a further £750,000 allocated for 2004/05. Due to the success of this funding the amount of £750,000 has also been allocated for the two years commencing April 2005.
• £5.6m was allocated to the five police forces in the region in their bid to reduce crime in their areas in 2003/04. The same figure was available for 2004/05. The same amount of funding has been allocated to the five Police forces in the South East to continue their fight in reducing crime and drug related crime for 2005/06
• £250,000 was allocated for 2004/05 for Domestic Violence projects in the South East. Schemes in the South East have now been allocated the sum of £268,000 for 2005/06 projects to help further reduce Domestic Violence in the region.
• For 2005/06 over £1.5m was allocated to the 19 Drug Action Teams (DAT) from the Partnership Support Grant as additional funding to assist them in reducing the use of drugs in the South East. This total amount of funding was also allocated to them for 2004/05.

Transport

•        £649m has been awarded to the region in the three year capital settlement for 2008/09 to 2010/11 Local Transport Plan funding. This includes £371m for highways capital maintenance and £278m for smaller transport improvement schemes.
•       £376m has been allocated to the Highways Agency for the A3 Hindhead Improvement scheme. The project will complete the dual carriageway link between London and Portsmouth and remove a major source of congestion, particularly around the A3/A287 traffic signal controlled crossroads. The new road will be 6.5km long and includes 1.8km twin bored tunnels under the Devil's Punch Bowl Site of Special Scientific Interest.
•       The Highways Agency have been allocated £102m for the A2 Bean to Cobham phase 2 widening scheme and £81m for the A2/A282 Dartford Improvement scheme, both in north Kent. The A2 Bean to Cobham scheme will improve safety, journey reliability, and the increased capacity will support traffic growth and development in the Kent Thameside development area. There will be considerable air quality and noise reduction benefits for a large number of existing residents with the new off-line section between Pepperhill and Marling Cross. The A2/A282 scheme will improve the flow and safety of traffic at the interchange of the A2/M25.
•        £14.5m was allocated towards Phase 1 of Fastrack, a bus-based rapid transport system linking Dartford and Greenhithe railway stations, this was opened in spring 2006. Stops include Bluewater retail and leisure complex, Darrent Valley Hospital, Leigh City Technology College and Dartford town centre. Further phases will integrate it with Ebbsfleet station for the Channel Tunnel Rail Link and Gravesend station.
•        The Bexhill to Hastings Link Road in East Sussex, a crucial component part of the 5-point regeneration plan for Hastings will reduce traffic on the congested and polluted section of the A259. The scheme, which is at programme entry stage, is being progressed through the statutory processes by East Sussex County Council.
• £660 million has been allocated to a scheme to improve capacity at Reading station, a key transport hub and interchange in the South East.
• £67 million has been allocated in the Regional Funding Allocation to a scheme which is designed to improve capacity and safety at Junction 11 of the M4 south of Reading. This scheme remains subject to final approval by the DfT and is programmed to start prior to 2011.
• A package of measures to improve access to Oxford, including the redevelopment of Oxford rail station and improvements on the A34 was accepted into the Regional Funding Allocation programme in March 2007. The business case is now to be developed by Oxfordshire CC, pending assessment by the DfT.
• The Stoke Hammond and Linslade Western Bypass, on the A4146 south of Milton Keynes, was opened in September 2007. DfT provided a £40.576 contribution to this scheme, which will enhance traffic flow and improve safety.
• £6.2m has been allocated to the Isle of Wight for a new interchange building at Ryde. The new interchange will have Real Time Information on local services as well as a link to information on train services from Portsmouth and will enable passengers to move between bus, rail and hovercraft services in a more secure and comfortable way.

Social Inclusion and Regeneration

• The South East had four localities in receipt of neighbourhood renewal fund from 2001-06: Brighton & Hove, Hastings, Southampton and Portsmouth. Only two of these were eligible from 2006-08, Brighton & Hove (£2.1m) and Hastings (£1.8m) and funding for these is now part of the Safer and Stronger Communities Fund of the relevant LAAs with attached mandatory outcomes on NR.
• The three Neighbourhood Management Pathfinder programmes, Greater Hollington in Hastings, Hawkinge near Folkestone and Pan on the Isle of Wight, are testing new ways of delivering local services, to reduce the gap between the poorest areas and the rest of the country. Neighbourhood managers act as a single point of contact for residents and businesses, and can negotiate with providers about how services are delivered. These continue in 2007/08 but again funding is now within the Safer and Stronger Communities Fund of relevant LAAs.
• The New Deal for Communities programme operating in East Brighton and Thornhill, Southampton is an important test bed for many ideas and policy initiatives being developed to support renewal. Over the ten-year duration, partnerships bring local communities, service providers and other agencies together to tackle problems in their neighbourhood in an intensive and co-ordinated way. This funding remains ring-fenced.
• 84 local authority areas that contain small areas of high levels deprivation benefit from the SSCF Neighbourhood Element. In the South East this includes Brighton & Hove, Hastings, Portsmouth and Thanet. These local authorities will receive at least £1.6million each spread over four years based on helping up to three such small areas.  The £1.6m is tapered funding of £413,000 in 2006-07, £516,000 in 2007-08 plus two more years (£413,000 and £258,000) dependent on future spending reviews.
• The SSCF Cleaner Safer Greener Element provides £105million to be shared over two years among 50 local authorities. Thanet in the South East received £970,000 in 2006-07 and £1,130,000 in 2007-08 to deliver physical improvements to local public spaces.
• A regional cross-sector regeneration practitioners’ network has been formed to share and learn from each others’ practice in the region on social inclusion issues.
• The ChangeUp Programme in the South East has delivered almost £6m worth of support to infrastructure providers in the voluntary and community sector. The money has helped to develop plans for improved service delivery to local communities and the voluntary sector. It has also supported 19 local groups across the region who are developing support targeting BME, asylum seekers, refugees, minority faith and travellers groups.
• 20 Local Consortia in the South East have Infrastructure Development Plans. The region had £714,700 Continuation Funding for 2006-07 from Capacitybuilders under the ChangeUp programme to support the on-going work of the local consortium. This funding is also available in 2007/08 for the existing consortium to develop further region-wide collaboration and engage in strategic and business planning.
• Capacitybuilders announced new funding streams for 2006-08. The first one to be made available was the Consortia Projects Programme, which funded over 20 priority projects from the Infrastructure Development Plan, covering all upper tier areas within the South East. The other fund available was the Improving Reach Grant which funded 9 bodies to do work mainly with BME communities.
• The South East has had 7 local authorities funded via the Preventing Violent Extremism Pathfinder Fund. These areas are: Crawley £75,000, Oxford £50,000, Reading £80,000, Slough £80,000, Windsor & Maidenhead £15,000, Woking £70,000 and Wycombe £80,000.  There was an allocation of £52,002.5 to the SE region for PVE capacity building in 2006/07.

European Funding

• Over £22m has been allocated to Thanet and Hastings under the Objective 2 programme to help with local economic regeneration including business counselling and infrastructure and community economic development including the voluntary sector.
• £7.5m has been awarded to parts of Dartford and Gravesham under the Urban programme to support social inclusion, access to learning and business support.
• Over £7m to Mid Kent, Isle of Wight, New Forest, West Oxfordshire and Wealden & Rother under the Leader+ programme to help rural communities, especially women, young people and the older working population.
• Over £88m was allocated from Interreg, primarily to support co-operative projects involving Kent and East Sussex with Nord Pas de Calais and Seine Maritime regions of North West France. The programme also includes support for the development of trans-national strategies particularly in planning and transport.